New signing Ron Vlaar admits he was shocked to be named the new Aston Villa captain so shortly after joining the club.

The defender, who arrived at Villa Park in August after leaving Feyenoord, has replaced Darren Bent as club captain by new manager Paul Lambert.

Darren Bent is set for talks with Lambert, after being dropped for the 1-1 draw against neighbours West Bromwich Albion, in which he came off the bench and grabbed the equaliser.

Vlaar has made a strong start to his time at Aston Villa, drawing in praise from the fans with his performances on the pitch.

The 27-year-old Holland international is delighted with his appointment and importance to the side, he told Mail Online that it is a “great honour” and he is relishing his new duties.

He went on to say, “It wasn’t something that was on my mind when I joined Villa, but I am always looking to improve my game and I enjoy the responsibility of being captain.”

Despite Vlaar's fast start to his time at Villa, the club have been performing well below expectations. Villa have endured the worst ever start to a season with just one win out of their first six games and find themselves in 16^th place in the league.

As captain, Vlaar has encouraged his team mates to up their game.

“We produced a really good team display against Swansea and we should have won more than 2-0.

"At Southampton, it all went wrong after Darren Bent had given us the lead.

With a young team like ours, you know you’re going to have ups and downs, and we know we have to be more consistent,” he added.